The 250,000-cubic-metre-a-day Arana independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) project is expected to reach financial close later this year
Spain's Cox Water has been selected as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Arana independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) project in Mecca Province, according to a source.
The plant will have an initial treatment capacity of 250,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). It will include a treated sewage effluent reuse system with a storage tank and a 41-kilometre (km) pipeline capable of transferring 400,000 cm/d.
A consortium of local firms Miahona, Marafiq and Buhur for Investment was selected last December as the preferred bidder for a contract to develop and operate the project at a levelised tariff of SR1.35 ($0.36) a cubic metre.
According to the source, the timeline for financial close has been pushed back and will not be completed in the second quarter of 2026, as had been previously expected.
The Arana ISTP is one of two major sewage treatment plant projects being undertaken by Sharakat, formerly Saudi Water Partnership Company, in Mecca Province.
In December, a consortium of Metito, EtihadWE and SkyBridge was named as the preferred bidder for the Hadda ISTP, at a levelised tariff of SR2.354 ($0.63) a cubic metre.
It is understood that India's Wabag has been selected as the preferred partner for EPC works on this project.
Financial close for this project is likely to follow a similar timeline to that of the Arana ISTP.
The two projects will be developed on a build, own, operate and transfer basis and are expected to begin operations in 2028, followed by a 25-year operating term.
Separately, local firm Vision Invest was recently named as the preferred bidder to develop and operate the 859km Riyadh-Qassim independent water transmission pipeline project. However, an official agreement has yet to be signed.
Financial close for the project is not expected until at least the third quarter.
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